In this horror shooter one plays as Mike LeRoi, an art
student, whose brother was murdered. He has been implanted with the Mask of Shadows,
a powerful voodoo artifact, into his chest. Without a soul, you can change
between the worlds of the living persons and the dead ones. This becomes
also necessary, because the voodoo priestess, Mama Nettie, sends him on a
odyssey in order to save the world. Five serial killers known as 'the Five',
under the direction of an immensely powerful and evil being known as 'Legion',
are attempting to bring about the Apocalypse by transporting an immortal army
of hideous monsters to Earth (Liveside) through an enormous construction on
Deadside simply called 'Asylum'. You travel to Deadside using your strong
emotional attachment to your dead brother's teddy bear as a conduit and meet
up with Jaunty, a skull-headed snake who acts as Nettie's eyes and ears.
As the Shadowman you also have the power to
hide in shadows so as to avoid detection. One steers the protagonist
using the 3rd-person behind view. Unfortunately the controls are rather
tough to judge and use. There are some cutscene sequences in the game,
through which information in the game will be shown but must read info
also. The story involves voodoo and mass murderers and is pleasantly
dark - like the hero. In the mission, one must look for the way to go
in enormous levels, jump and climb and solve some puzzles. The main weapon is
the Shadowgun, a pistol through which Mike can channel his shadow power and
reap life energy from his enemies. Numerous other weapons also exist, such as
voodoo implements, ordinary Earth weapons, and some oddly-designed Deadside
firearms. Along the way, you collect "Dark Souls", a set of 120 indestructible
souls which imbue Mike with greater power once enough are absorbed and allow
access to coffin gates. Collecting small ceremonial pots called 'cadeaux' also
increase the life meter by one unit for every 100 gained. The levels are
non-linear and you can fight the 5 bosses in any order. Leveles range from
swampland just outside of New Orleans to barren wastelands in Deadside, from an
underground railway station in London to blood-soaked slaughter-rooms in Asylum.
The graphics are successful and the sound as well; definitely worth playing.